Hallway Air

The door muffles out my classmates’ voices as I close it. How much a quick restroom break means to anyone else, I don’t know, but it means a lot to me. I’m more than thankful to escape from the chilly classroom right now, and I don’t care if I’m just getting out to empty my bladder.

I hear their voices swell and cease again as the door opens one more time. A dark-haired girl steps out and takes my hand in hers, smiling at me. Meet Tatienne, miss ultra-energy. Let’s just say that the words ‘too much caffeine’ pops into your head when you see her, and let’s just leave it that way, shall we?

A fresh gush of warm hallway air blows as a boy passes by. This strangely weak feeling comes over me as I feel the skin of my arm brush against his. “Hey shrimp,” he whispers into my ear as I walk by, running his hands through the blackness of his hair. I roll my eyes and mutter back, “Paper-face.” He leans against the door frame and winks, before disappearing into the room.

I must be quite red right now, because Tat is surpressing a squeal. The moment we enter the restroom, she grabs both of my hands and looks severely at me.

“What is it with you and James? I could absolutely positively feel sparks flying; I could feel the tension.”

She bounces up and down, up and down expactantly, fire lighting her eyes with an excited flame. I pull my hands back and pretend to fix my hair. “Nothing is,” I say simply. I can practically feel her stare drilling a hole into the back of my head. She clucks her tounge impatiently and turns to the mirror with a sigh. I know she knows I’m lying, but it’s more complicated than that.

Things between James and I weren’t always like this. There never was any tension; there never were any weird silences before. There was just us. I guess it’s not like that anymore; everything just changed more than I would have wanted them to.

As for Tat, I just… can’t tell her. Not yet.

One, she wouldn’t understand. It’s not that I don’t trust her, she’s just got way too much sugar in her system, see. She’s got this ‘tendency’ to let things slip.

Two, I know how I feel for James, but I don’t want anyone else to find out.

And three, most importantly…I really, really have to pee.